I am glad that someone got to talk to him personally, it is not often we have that opportunity, I am sure it took come courage for you to talk with him about this, thank you. but..... I am glad he is getting 20 letters a day..... and hopefully he will remove the formula banners from the site, if we didn't write, he wouldn't of removed them. I am shocked that he is on the BOD of a formula company........ Lets hope those banners dissapear soon! Cindy ~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~** Cindy Curtis, RN, IBCLC mailto:[log in to unmask] http://www.breastfeedingonline.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peg Merrill" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2001 10:26 PM Subject: Re: Latch Conference/Dr. Sears > ---------------------- Information from the mail header ----------------------- > Sender: Lactation Information and Discussion > <[log in to unmask]> > Poster: Peg Merrill <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: Latch Conference/Dr. Sears > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- > > I had a chance to personally talk with Dr.and Martha Sears yesterday and > was deeply humbled by the experience. We really do have to stop jumping to > conclusions and judging people when we don't have all the facts and don't > know what they are thinking. > Dr. Sears told everyone at the LATCH Conference in Cheseapke, Va. that > he is on the Board of Directors of Wyeth ( the company that makes the > generic formulas that places like WalMart sell), and his explanation seemed > very sincere, and from the heart. He is, above all, committed to helping > mothers and babies and sometimes (he claimed 2-5%) mothers are unable to > breastfeed and need to use formula. Therefore he is trying to get at least > one formula company to add DHA to its product, as he sees this as an > essential ingredient for brain growth and development. In return they will > put information about attachment parenting on their labels and refer people > to askdrsears.com. He reasons that some people may try 3, 4, or 5 of the B's > of attachment parenting ( Birth Bonding,Breastfeeding,Babywearing, > Bedsharing, Believe Babies Cries,Balance) and maybe next time they will try > breastfeeding. > I talked with him at length during a break and truely believe that it is > not about the money ( as has been suggested on Lactnet). He and Martha both > said that this is an experiment to try to get the word out to a larger > audience. "It may work or it maynot." He also implied that the formula > banners will come off of his site. "That was a mistake and it has already > been taken care of" From talking with him I suspect that they never thought > about some of the things us Lactnuts think about. I asked them about the > possibility that the formula co. would want to market a DR.Sears formula > with DHA and he and Marth were both very clear "THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN _ WE > WOULDN"T ALLOW IT! They are truely committed to breastfeeding and to babies. > It was a joy to hear them talk. I hope that everyone can forgive them and > that next time something like this happens we take the time to get all the > facts and to find out what the accused party is thinking before we jump to > conclusions and send off our "Mad Mommy" letters. (Dr. Sears said he has > been averaging about 20 "Mad Mommy" letters a day.) > > Peg Merrill, IBCLC, LLL(retired) > Parkton, Md. > > *********************************************** > The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned > LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) > mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: > http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html > *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html